Canton Selectman Robert Burr announces candidacy for U.S. Senate seat

Robert Burr on Monday announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Edward “Ted” Kennedy. The Canton selectman became the first Republican officially to throw his hat in the race, a day after former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey said she wouldn’t seek the seat.

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

Writer

Posted Sep. 8, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 8, 2009 at 8:11 AM

Posted Sep. 8, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 8, 2009 at 8:11 AM

CANTON

» Social News

He wouldn’t be the first Burr in the U.S. Senate, nor would he be the most famous Burr ever to sit in that hallowed chamber.

Still, Robert Burr has high hopes of earning his place in Washington. On Monday, he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Edward “Ted” Kennedy.

The 43-year-old Canton selectman became the first Republican to throw his hat in the race, a day after former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey said she wouldn’t seek the seat. He’s aiming to become the first GOP member from the Bay State in the Senate since Edward Brooke left office in 1979, in a state that now has no Republicans in its Congressional ranks.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch – a South Boston Democrat whose district includes Braintree, Milton, Randolph, Holbrook and Whitman – and Attorney General Martha Coakley, also a Democrat, pulled nomination papers late last week.

A lifelong Canton resident, Burr, 43, has been active in town for years as a coach and former president of Canton Little League, former conservation commission member and, since 2005, a selectman.

He has a degree in business management, earned in 1989 from Boston College.

Burr could not be reached for comment Monday.

Should he make it through the upcoming primary and defeat his Democratic opponent in the general election, he would join another Burr – Richard, out of North Carolina – in the U.S. Senate.

Yet both have a long way to go before they’d catch up with arguably the most renowned Burr in U.S. history, Aaron, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1791.

He was vice president under President Thomas Jefferson when, in 1804, he shot and killed Alexander Hamilton during a duel in Weehawken, N.J.

READ MORE about how the race is shaping up for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat..